


Flounder

by scribble005



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Flashbacks, Happy Ending, LGBTQ Female Character, Young Love, learning how to swim, lgbtq+, the Farm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25213693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribble005/pseuds/scribble005
Summary: Ellie learns how to swim! Or Ellie never leaves Dina.
Relationships: Dina & Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us), Ellie/Joel (The Last of Us)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 141





	Flounder

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely love this game and it wrecked me that we never saw Ellie and Dina together at the end. So I made up this story in my head just to soothe my aching heart haha!

Ellie could hear the loud trickle from the nearby river signifying she was close to the gate that border the farm’s land. She had been wrestling with the many thoughts scattering her mind and trying to sort them out when she had exited the back porch. But she only wanted to focus on one mission: killing Abby. 

“What’s the hurry, kiddo?” 

She had one hand on the gate door when she slowed to a stop and lost her herself into a recover memory. 

Joel. Laughing. It was a rare sight. 

“You’re not going to get anywhere flailing like that.” Joel said with a boisterous laugh as he watched the tiny teenager angrily chop the lake water with her arms. 

It was the hottest day of the summer since their return to Jackson from Salt Lake City. It has only been a few months but both her and Joel were still settling in and integrating themselves into the community. Ellie decided it was time for her to learn how to swim and had asked Joel to give her lessons. They went to the nearest lake, clouded in thick trees but still close to town in case they got into any trouble.

“Ugh, it’s so hard Joel!” Ellie stopped her arms and flipped over into a back float. At least she mastered that. 

“It takes some time. It’s like shooting a rifle, and before you know it, you’ll be swimming in circles.” Joel tried to encourage. 

“Fuck, shooting a rifle was much easier than this!” Ellie exclaimed. She turned herself frontwards again to practice her trending. Head above water. Check. Circle those arms, kick those legs and repeat. Yeah! She was doing it!

“There go, Ellie! Keep that up for a few more times and we can start learning the harder stuff.” Joel began mimicking Ellie’s movements until they were in sync. 

“Easy for you to say,” Ellie muttered but she continued the motions. She was starting to feel the burn in her limbs but she pushed on, determined to finish what she started.

“Hey! Can I join?”

Ellie and Joel swiveled their heads towards where their horses were grazing on some vegetation. They weren’t expecting any welcomed visitors and immediately went into defense mode.

It was Dina, the first person around Ellie’s age in Jackson to introduce herself. She was standing at the edge of the lake, backpack in tow and her own rifle slung across her shoulder. She had one arm crooked on her hip and a beaming smile on her face. She was breathtaking.

“Jesus, Dina! What are you doing here? It’s not safe!” Joel shouted. He swam to shore and lifted himself out of the lake. He caused multiple ripples in the water that it disrupted Ellie, causing her to lose focus and she started to sink slightly down the water. Fear ripped through her that she started trashing for the blow-up flamingo that Joel had tied to her ankle with a rope. She was able to wrap her arms for dear life around the buoyant bird before she started gasping for air.

“You’re in the shallow end… You good?” Joel asked with a quirk eyebrow. Ellie felt the tips of her toes touch the floor and she wanted to die in embarrassment. She must have looked like a moron.

Joel turned his attention back to the lone black-haired teenager. “Does your mom know you’re outside the walls?”

“She was the one that told me you and Ellie were out swimming.” Dina said matter of fact. 

“You shouldn’t have come alone. You need to be in pairs when you’re outside…”

“The crews are out on patrol and I made sure it as safe when I got here!”

“That’s not the point. Come on, we’ll take you home.”

“Please, Mr. Miller?” Dina gave her sweetest puppy eyed look. It was working on Ellie but she didn’t think it would for Joel. She started for the ledge thinking the swimming lessons were going to be cut short today. 

“Ah, fine. Jump in, Dina.” Joel sighed, “And you can call me Joel. Can you swim?” Wow, it did work. 

“Of course!” Dina rushed to the opposite side of Joel and Ellie’s personal effects and began unloading hers. It was common practice in Jackson for groups to not place their items and weapons in the same place if they had to unpack. They needed to spread out their resources in case of any threats and they weren’t left defenseless. It was simple and logical tactic. 

As Dina strategically placed her pack and rifle down, she shuffled out of her boots and jeans and unbuttoned her shirt. Underneath was a black swimsuit, simple but not. The swimsuit on Dina showed every curve and defined muscle on her body. It left nothing to the imagination whereas this reddish-brown hair girl layered herself in a t-shirt and shorts to hide her string bean frame. 

Ellie watched Dina adjusted her swimsuit around her legs before retying her hair into a tighter bun. She felt a familiar stir in her groin that she quickly averted her gaze and held her life preserver with more gusto. Shit, maybe they should go home. 

“Joel…” Ellie called out but Joel was busy re-checking the surroundings to hear her.

Splash!

“Hey Ellie!” Dina said when she re-surfaced to the top and shaking the water from her face. Ellie return the greeting quietly. 

“Beautiful day for a swim?” Dina began swimming around Ellie, effortlessly gliding through the water. Ellie nodded, not moving from her spot.

“Come on, Ellie, let’s go further in!”

Ellie’s grimaced at the thought of leaving her safety zone. “Nah, it’s ok. I’m good here.”

She looked up to see Joel returning from surveying the area. He didn’t get back in the lake but instead, picked up his guitar, sat on a large boulder and began checking the strings. 

“Oh my god, there’s something in the water!” Dina screamed and splashed at the water. 

“What! Where?!” Ellie struggled in the water, going whatever direction her failing would take her. 

“It’s ok, it’s just a flounder.” Dina responded while pointing at the other girl. Joel let out a gruff chuckle and Ellie shot him a glare. Traitor.

“Ha-ha,” Ellie responded deadpan.

“Hey, hey, I’m just joking!” Dina reached out to place a hand on Ellie’s shoulder. “Here, I’ll teach you!”

Dina removed the flamingo, with some effort, from Ellie and held her hands to provide some comfort. Her compassion shocked Ellie, she expected to be teased relentlessly because she couldn’t swim. But it was like Dina understood what Ellie was going through and wanted to help. 

Dina picked up where Joel had left off with the lesson. They trended the water for a few minutes then she showed her how to move her arms and legs to do a breaststroke. Minutes later Ellie was moving through the water without difficulty. Dina join her as they slowly moved up and down the lake and Joel gave Ellie his approval while lightly strumming his guitar.

“How are you liking here?” Dina questioned pensively. Ellie could feel Dina’s gaze on her but Ellie looked straight on as she peddled through the lake.

“It’s ok, I guess. Different.”

“It’s not so bad. We have fresh air, sturdy walls, food, water, safety, you name it.”

“Yeah, but I dunno. I don’t really see myself staying very long.”

“Really?” Dina stopped and Ellie followed suit. 

“I dunno, I’ll have to see. I kind of feel like I don’t belong.”

“Oh Ellie, you already do belong here,” Dina assured her. “Come on, let’s do something new. How about the front stroke?”

After another hour, Ellie was no longer feeling the anxiety she felt when in deep water. She was nowhere near as fast as Dina but she was able to get from one end to the other without drowning. This win felt better than taking down a dozen runners.

“Girls, the sun’s about to set. We should start heading back.” Joel called out. 

They nodded and got themselves out of the pond. Dina headed to her things while Ellie, squeezing the excess water at the ends of her shirt, headed to hers where Joel was inventorying the contents in his bag. Ellie began changing out of her wet shirt for a dry one and packing her backpack. 

“Ellie,” Joel said, breaking the silence. “I overheard you and Dina talking. About you feeling out of place, here in Jackson.”

“Ah, Joel. I really didn’t mean anything about it.” Ellie mumbled.

“I get it. You don’t know anyone and it’s a foreign place. But I hope you give it a chance. Make friends and build a life. Because one of these days I won’t be here...”

“Don’t say that,” Ellie grimaced at the thought and shuffled her feet at how the conversation had turned.

“Kid, one of these days I won’t be here, either from old age or a Clicker, but I hope by that time, you would have found a home and a family to love. So, stop running and give Jackson a chance.” Joel stood up, bag and guitar in hand. 

“Yeah, sure.” Was all Ellie could muster. Joel nodded and grabbed the reins from his horse. He checked the straps and saddle and swung himself on top. Ellie did the same with her horse and maneuvered over to where Dina was getting dressed. 

“Dina, want to ride back with me?” 

“You’re the best!” Dina checked that her backpack and rifle were securely on then reached up to grab Ellie’s waiting hand and settled perfectly behind Ellie. She looped her arms around the rider’s waist as they trotted out of the forest. Joel was a few yards ahead, casually looking back to make sure they were still behind him. 

They came out to the clearing and Jackson was coming into view. The sun was setting and the glow was glistening the Wyoming landscape. Dina squeezed Ellie tighter and rested her cheek on Ellie’s shoulder, closing her eyes. 

“Everything alright?” Ellie asked as she placed her one hand on the arms wrapped around her waist. Their closeness felt nice. 

“It’s perfect, Ellie,” Dina murmur, “I hope you stay in Jackson. Stay with me.” She sighed deeper into Ellie, keeping her eyes closed.

Stay with me. 

Ellie dropped her hand from the gate door. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t leave Dina, JJ, the life she built over the last 18 months just to lose it all at the end. She already had lost Joel, Jesse and her relationship with Tommy was fraying, all because she was hell bent on revenge. She and Dina almost died that day but Abby let them go. She was given a second chance in life and she was wasting it. Even if she did find Abby, would killing her make the hurt go away? Would it end there?

She turned around to face her home. Her life, her family, her love. 

She started back to the house, climbing the back steps and tentatively looked through the screen door. She half expected Dina to be back in the bedroom but she was sitting at the kitchen table. Her back was towards the door but Ellie could see her hands on her face, stifling her cries. Ellie opened the door, causing Dina to jump and turn towards the unexpected noise. She looked confused at the sight of Ellie. 

“I’m staying with you. Always.” It was all Ellie had to say before Dina rushed into her arms, clutching her, sobbing that her lover had come back.


End file.
